


The Soldier

by b_interesting



Category: Original Work
Genre: Loss, Love, Soldiers, Violence, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-14
Updated: 2013-07-14
Packaged: 2017-12-20 04:18:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/882858
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b_interesting/pseuds/b_interesting
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Inspired by 'The Manhunt' by Simon Armitage.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Soldier

There are bullets flying through the air  
piercing skin and flesh like the knife of a surgeon,  
yet more jagged and rough.  
Unsympathetic and unforgiving.  
the man ahead takes poise and pulls the trigger.  
A flash and it’s in my bones.  
Another shot. Two blows.  
I feel my ribcage shatter and then a third,  
busted pelvis and a fractured spine.  
The pain shoots through my cells and I feel them split  
like meiosis, one then two. I count them  
like the marching steps of my heartbeat  
and then it stops.  
It is replaced by another pain,  
blind panic as I know  
I might never see you again.  
Might never share the  
lustful intimacy of searching  
for hidden explosions in your skin,  
that you might never run  
your winter-weathered fingers  
through my hair  
the way you did last time  
I came home.  
and then realisation  
seeps into my muscles  
like the fragments of war  
embedded in my skin  
and I feel myself fading  
like I’m numb.  
and it’s quiet  
and it’s cold  
despite the  
blasting  
eastern  
heat  
and  
then  
there’s  
n


End file.
